Shar Pei is a solid, square built, compact dog of medium height and weight, with a broad profile and a short body. Head is enlarged in comparison with the body in resembles a hippopotamus. Shar Peis have short and rigid fur and the skin loosely covers the body and the head. He has a typical scissors bite. The special feature of the breed is it's blue tongue and the inside of the mouth. The skin of the pups is very folded with the appearance of an oversize sweater. With age the wrinkles soothe out, they are only obligatory on the head and allowed on the neck. Shar Peis are kind, watchful and clean and so very appropriate family dogs.

CHARACTER AND BEHAVIOUR

The Chinese Shar Pei is a very attentive, active, vivacious and clean dog. He will have no trouble fitting into the family life. He is devoted and loyal but craves attention. He's inclined to exaggerating and will demand as much love as he is giving to his owners. He is pretty reserved when it comes to strangers. Shar Pei is a smart dog and learns quickly but still sometimes appears totally ignorant.

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS

Even though every Shar Pei develops it's own personality we can observe some common traits of the breed:

*In his home he is always alert and on the lookout

*He is extremely intelligent

*His personality is hard to grasp

*His mood is always projected on his face

*He seldom or never shows taking offence or resentment

CARE

Daily brushing with a rubber glove or a soft brush will suit the dog and better his bloodflow. We do not encourage bathing the dog too often. A clean sleeping space and regular brushing will suffice.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY
This Chinese breed has existed for hundreds of years in the provinces bordering the South China Sea. The town of Dialak in the province of Kwun Tung is probably the place of origin.

GENERAL APPEARANCE: Active, compact, short coupled and squarely built dog of medium size. Wrinkles over skull and withers, small ears and «hippopotamus» muzzle impart to the Shar Pei a unique look. Dogs larger and more powerful that bitches.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS: The height of the Shar Pei from withers to ground is approximately equal to the to length of the body, from point of shoulder to point of buttock especially in males. The length from nose to stop is approximately equal to the length from stop to occiput.

BEHAVIOR - TEMPERAMENT: Calm, independent, loyal, affectionate to his family

HEAD Rather large in proportion to body. Wrinkles on forehead and cheeks continuing to form dewlap

CRANIAL REGIÓN
Skull: Flat, broad.
Stop: Moderate.

FACIAL REGION:
Nose: Large and wide, preferably black, but any colour conforming to general coat colour permissible. Wide opened nostrils.
Muzzle: A distinctive feature of the breed. Broad from root to tip of nose with no suggestion of tapering, Lips and top of muzzle well padded. Bulge at the base of the nose permissible. Mouth: Tongue, roof of mouth, gums and flews, bluish black is preferred. Pink spotted tongue permissible. Solid pink tongue highly undesirable. In dilute coloured dogs the tongue is solid lavender.
Jaws / Teeth: Jaws strong with a perfect scissors bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Padding of lower lip should not be so excessive as interfere with the bite.
Eyes: Dark, almond-sharped with a scowling expression. Lighter colour permissible in dilute -coloured dogs. Function of eyeball or lid in no way disturbed by surrounding skin, folds or hair. Any sign of irritation of eyeball, conjunctiva or eyelids highly undesirable. Free from entropion.
Ears: Very small, rather thick, equilaterally triangular in shape, slightly rounded at lip and set high on the skull with tips pointing towards eyes, set well forward over eyes wide apart and close to skull. Pricked ears highly undesirable.

NECK: Medium length, strong set well on shoulders, The loose skin under the neck should not be excessive.

TAIL Thick and round at the root. Tapering to a fine point. The tail is set very high, a characteristic feature of the breed. May be carried high and curved, carried in right curl or curved over or to either side of the back. Lack of or incomplete tail highly undesirable

HINDQUARTERS:
Muscular, strong moderately angulated, perpendicular to the ground and parallel to each other when viewed from the read. Wrinkles on upper thighs lower thighs, rear pasterns as well as the thickening of the skin on backs undesirable.
Hocks: Well set down.

GAIT / MOVEMENT:
The preferred gait is trot. The gait is free, balanced, active with good forward and strong drive from the hindquarters. The feet tend to converge to a centerline when the speed increases. Stilted gait undesirable.

COAT HAIR:
A distinctive feature of breed: short, harsh and bristly. The coat is straight and offstanding on the body, but generally flatter on the limbs. No undercoat. The coat may vary in length from 1 cm. To 2,5 cm. Never trimmed.

COLOUR:
All solid colours acceptable except white. Tail and rear part of thighs frequently of a lighter colour. Darker shading down the back on the ears permissible.

SIZE
Height: 44 - 51 cm at withers (17,5 - 20 in)

FAULTS:
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

SERIOUS FAULTS:

Deviation from scissors bite (as a transitory measure a very slightly undershot mouth is permissible).

Snippy muzzle

Spotted tongue (except pink spotted tongue)

Large ears

Low set tail

Coat longer than 2,5 cm.

ELIMINATING FAULTS

Flat foreface with badly undershot bite, overshot bite

Solid pink tongue

Lower lip rolled in, interfering with the bite

Round bulging eye,

Entropion, ectropion

Skin folds or hair disturbing the normal function of the eye.

Pricked ears

Absence of tail, stumpy tail

Heavy folds of skin on body (except withers and base of tail) and limbs

NOTE:
Male animals, should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum

REMARK
Any artificial physical alteration to the Shar-Pei (in particular lips and eyelines) eliminates the dog from competition

Standard of the Hong-Kong Kennel Club

This description is attributed to Matgo Law, Hong Kong, B.C.C, 1973. It is recognized by the Hong Kong. It is published in the Chinese Shar-Pei Stud book Registry, consolodated supplemental material, volumes 1-2-3, 1976- 1982.

GENERAL APPEARANCE

An active, compact short-coupled dog who stands firm on the ground with the stature of a warrior.

HEAD AND SKULL

Skull flat and broad, rather large in proportion with the rest of the body. Profuse and fine wrinkles appear on the forehad and cheek and continue to form the heavy dewlaps. The muzzle is moderately long and broad from the eyes to the point of the nose without any sugggestion of tapering but rather in the mouth shape of a hippopotamus.

NOSE

Black, large and wide, occasionally there are cream-colered dogs with light-colored nose and a light-fawn dog with a self colored nose, but a black nose is preferable.

EYES

Dark, small, almond-shaped and sunken (a light color is found in cream and fawn-colored dogs). The sunken small eyes are advantageous in dog fighting to reduce injuries to the eyes.

MOUTH

Teeth strong and level, giving a scissor bite. The canine teeth are somewhat curved, which increases the difficulty of freeing the grip. Tongue is bluish black. Flews and roof of mouth black. Gums preferabley black.

EARS

Small, thick, equilateral and triangular in shape and slightly rounded at the tip, set well over the eyes and wide apart. In contrast to the Chow, the ears should set tightly to the skull and be as small as possible. This minimizes his opponent's chances of getting a good grip on his ears. Some of these dogs have ears so small they are about the size of a thumb nail.

NECK

Strong, full, set well on the shoulders with heavy folding skin and abundant dewlaps.

FOREQUARTERS

Shoulders muscular and sloping. Forelegs straight with moderate length and good bones.

BODY

Chest broad and deep, back short; the lowest part of the back-line is just behind the withers and rises to the loin. It is similar to the Bulldog but not as sunken as the latter. As with the wrinkles and dewlaps, there is a lot of skin folding on the body. this abundance of loose skin allows the dog to turn and attack when gripped by his opponent.

HINDQUARTERS

Hindlegs muscular and strong, hocks slightly bent and well let down, giving length and strength from loin to hock.

FEET

Moderate in size, compact and firmly set, toes well split up with high knuckles, giving a firm stand.

TAIL

Thick and round at the base and evenly tapering to a fine point. There are three ways of carrying the tail; most desirable is the type set on top and and curled tightly over to one side. Some are curled so tightly they are in the shape of a small ringlet, the size of a large China coin. The second type is curled in a loose ring. The third is carried high in a curve, not touching the back. This allows a dog to wiggle in a happier and more eager fashion. No matter what, the tail should be set high on the loin, showing the anus. The demand for a curling tight tail is obvious--in fights the tail between the legs is a sign of defeat.

COLOR

Whole colors such as black, fawn, light fawn and cream, frequently shaded; for example, the underpart of tail and back of thighs of a lighter color. These shadings should not be in patches or parti-colored.

WEIGHT AND SIZE

Around 18 and 20 inches at the withers, weighing 40 to 50 lbs. As in most breeds, the dog is heavier than the bitch and more squarely built.

FAULTS

Spotted tongue; tail carried horizontally or covering the anus; a flat, long shining coat; tapering muzzles like a fox.